Archive of Our Own

Despite Jaehyun refusing to call it a party, that's what Youngjae calls the small group of people currently occupying most of the not-so-big apartment. It's not a full-blown party, granted—the music is low, and there's far less alcohol flowing than usual, but it's still friends and strangers alike hanging out together late at night. That qualifies as a party to Youngjae.

He's greeted everyone he knows and met some people he doesn't, had a sip of beer that he immediately handed away because god that was bitter, and had a lot of fun pulling Sunwoo into a stupid dance between the stereo and the coffee table. It's been a couple hours now, and as much as it makes him feel like an old man, he can't deny he's kinda beat. After a long week of wrangling kids at the dance studio, he's ready to become one with his bed. Or at least with the nearest soft surface. He looks around, notices an empty spot on the couch, and throws himself down with the excuse of tightening up his shoelaces.

It's in this position, with one foot up on the couch as he works the laces, that he realizes he didn't spare a glance to the person next to him on the two-sitter. Looking up, he finds the stranger already looking at him, but it's short-lived; the man averts his gaze so fast, it's obvious he didn't expect to be caught staring.

Totally fine. Youngjae has enough introverted friends to know how to navigate this.

"Today's kinda hot, isn't it?" He says conversationally as he sits up straight and leans against the couch. "I could swear it was gonna rain tonight."

The man nods, a little disconcerted smile on his lips. "Yeah."

Ok, not a lot to work with. Youngjae isn't deterred, however. The guy looks awkward, sitting there alone with his phone in his hand, like he's just waiting for the right moment to leave. Maybe waiting for someone? Youngjae didn't see him come in so he can't say who he's with. What he can say is that the guy probably needs an excuse to leave, and Youngjae was just considering leaving for the comfort of his bed, so...

"I think I'm good to go, honestly." He pats his knees and stands up, turning to the man again. "You staying?"

"I, uh..."

The man looks up at him, puzzled for a moment. Youngjae says, "I'm not driving otherwise I'd offer you a ride."

"Oh, no, it's fine, I—" The man stands up too, still gripping his phone anxiously in one hand. "I live close by, it's fine. But yeah, I think I'm gonna go too."

"Cool! Let's go then, before Jaehyun hyung sees us leaving and decides it's time to kick everyone out."

That earns him a snort—the guy probably knows Jaehyun, then. Makes sense, since this is Jaehyun's boyfriends' place. Youngjae remembers to text Juyeon as they're waiting for the elevator, letting him know he's going home, just in case anyone wonders where he's gone. He pockets his phone and holds the elevator doors so the stranger can get in first.

The mirror gives Youngjae and excuse to check his own looks and glance over at the stranger. He's tall, lean, with soft-looking skin and black hair framing his eyes in boyish bangs. Youngjae is sure he has never seen him because that's not a face you just forget—but then again, how could he not know him? Doesn't he know all of Jaehyun and Juyeon's friends? He almost asks the man how he got to that party in the first place, but then the elevator dings open again, and he loses his window.

"Do you need company? I can walk you to your place if you'd like," Youngjae offers, out of habit. He's usually the one sober friend making sure everyone gets home in one piece, anyway, so he's used to it.

The man shakes his head, that same awkward smile on his face. "No, it's all good, but thank you."

"Of course. Good night, then!"

"Good night."

They part ways at the entrance to the building—Youngjae goes left, the other guy goes right, looking down at his phone.

One thing is for sure: that's one hell of a good looking guy, Youngjae thinks, distractedly.

He was maybe a little too distracted, because the encounter leaves his mind entirely. He forgets to ask his friends about it, and life goes on, as it does.

It's a few days later, and Youngjae is huffing and puffing through lat pulldowns when Jaehyun stops by his side, phone in hand, hair curling out of the straightening with the sweat on his sideburns.

"Yah, you met Younghoon, didn't you?"

Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen… Youngjae lets the bars go on twenty and looks up at Jaehyun, confused. "Who?"

"You know, Younghoonie. I saw you talking to him at Cob and Juyeonie's place the other night."

"I don't—" Once a little more oxygen makes its way into Youngjae's system, his brain seems to kick into gear. "Oh, at the party?"

"That wasn't a party."

"It was, hyung. But anyway, that was your friend?"

Jaehyun nods. "And I know you're free on Christmas."

No amount of oxygen can help Youngjae out with this one. He's so confused by the sudden change of topics that he starts shaking his head, but Jaehyun doesn't leave him time to answer.

"I'm a genius and I have just created the perfect plan. All here," Jaehyun points to his own head. "Because again: genius."

"Hyung, are you having a stroke or something? What are you talking about?"

"Here, lemme show you."

Jaehyun pulls another bench closer and starts fiddling with his phone. The gym is pretty much deserted this late at night; there are some stragglers on the treadmills, but the rest is all theirs. That's why Jaehyun agreed to come around to begin with.

And why he puts his phone on speaker once someone picks up on the other side.

"Yah, you punk, it's late," the voice says.

Youngjae doesn't think he recognizes it, so he just stares, curious to see where this is going. With a fond little smirk, Jaehyun says into the phone, "I know you're awake watching your cartoons. Younghoon-ah, listen, remember Youngjae? That friend of mine you met at Jacob and Juyeon's place?"

"The hot hunk?"

Immediately, Jaehyun bursts out laughing, covering whatever Younghoon says next; Youngjae feels his ears heat up, embarrassed for the guy because oh, yeah, he heard that.

"You're on speaker, you know," Jaehyun says.

"On speaker? Who's—Oh, don't tell me it's—Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

With the look Jaehyun gives him, Youngjae feels propelled to say, "It's no problem. I'm flattered." Then he grimaces, feeling awkward, much to Jaehyun's pleasure.

"Anyway," Jaehyun continues. "Youngjae is free on Christmas, Younghoon-ah. You still have that event to attend, right?"

"I do…"

"That's great. I'll give him your contact and you two can talk." To Youngjae, he says, "He needs a plus-one, you need something to do on Christmas. There, two birds, one stone."

"I do feel like a stoned bird right now. Couldn't you just have texted me?"

"Nope. Bye, I'm hanging up now."

He really does, and turns to Youngjae with this mischievous glint in his eyes that Youngjae is kinda suspicious of. They've been friends long enough that Youngjae knows Jaehyun means well, but still, "That came out of nowhere, hyung. Why would he want me to be his plus-one? He doesn't even know me, that makes no sense."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, my sweet baby gay." Jaehyun puts his phone down and leans forward so he can put a hand on Youngjae's shoulder, staring him right in the eye. "You'll be his actual plus-one for this. You're gonna be his new boyfriend."

Now it's not just Youngjae's ears that heat up, his entire face growing warm. "What?"

"Not really his boyfriend, just his pretend boyfriend," Jaehyun explains. He squeezes Youngjae's shoulder. "And that will be good practice for you! Weren't you all worried about starting to see guys? You can go to this event with Younghoonie, pretending to be his partner, and practice what it would be like to be with a guy without really committing to a relationship."

Youngjae blinks. He doesn't know what disconcerts him the most—Jaehyun just throwing him on a friend's lap like this, or the fact that Youngjae doesn't hate the idea entirely. It kinda does make sense, if any of it sounds plausible at all. Pretend to be someone's boyfriend? How does that even work?

But it wouldn't be terrible to have the chance to sort of test drive his newfound identity. Youngjae hasn't had the chance to be with anyone since he drunk kissed a friend and found he was way more into it than he thought he would be. And it's scary thinking that he has no basis for this; he doesn't know how to date guys, much less approach them, as much as Jaehyun insists that it's not that different from what Youngjae already knows about dating. Which isn't much, actually, to make matters worse.

"Ok, but why does he even need someone to pretend to date him?" Youngjae asks, trying to focus on the real questions. "What's going on with him? Who's that guy?"

Jaehyun, already counting victory, reaches for his phone again and starts tapping the screen as he says, "That's Younghoon. We were neighbors growing up. And we're the same age, so you'll like him, since I know you like older guys." He dodges Youngjae's kick to his shin, chuckling, and looks up again from his phone. "There, I sent you his contact. Text him and ask him yourself."

"Hyung, that's weird! Make a groupchat at least!"

"No, you two can figure it out together," Jaehyun says. He stands up like the conversation is over, but before he walks away to another machine, he stops and turns around one last time. "By the way, he'll tell you this is just to fit in with his coworkers, but that's bullshit. His ex will be there, and he was an ass. That's what it's really about."

"Oh." Youngjae has a billion more questions, but he settles with, "How much of an ass are we talking?"

"If I treated Juyeonie the way Younghoonie was treated, you'd doxx me, for sure."

Then he walks away, but he doesn't need to say more than that. The example was clear enough. Although Youngjae is not in the habit of doxxing people, he is very protective of his best friend, so he can get the picture. Maybe it's not such a bad idea to help a friend of a friend and have something to do on Christmas, after all.

Even if it means playing pretend, whatever the hell that means.

sohn youngjae:
hey
it's youngjae
jaehyun hyung's friend..?
sorry about that
i didnt know he was about to call you lol

younghoon (jaehyun's friend):
Hi ^^
It's fine!! I apologize for what I said too… ㅎㅎ
I'm so embarrassed……

sohn youngjae:
no hey dont feel bad
were cool :)
what was hyung talking about tho?
you need company for an event..?

younghoon (jaehyun's friend):
Yeah
Long story short it's a work thing
A brunch sort of thing?
I'm signed to a modeling agency in case Jaehyun didn't tell you
I told Jaehyun it would be stupid to show up unaccompanied…
But I don't wanted you to feel pressured or anything!!
Jaehyun shouldn't have just sprung this on you

sohn youngjae:
tbh i told him i wanted something to do on christmas
i guess he just wanted to solve both of our problems at once lol
so i mean
i dont mind going if you need company

younghoon (jaehyun's friend):
Oh that's kind of you

There's a pause. Youngjae wonders if that's it, if this is Younghoon's way of saying "no, thanks" without actually saying it, but then a new message pops up.

younghoon (jaehyun's friend):
Did Jaehyun tell you anything about me?

sohn youngjae:
that youre his childhood friend
and that you need a fake boyfriend to accompany you
and that your ex was an ass

younghoon (jaehyun's friend):
Oh wow ok he gave you the whole report then ㅎㅎㅎ
It's more so I don't stand out too much…
Most of my coworkers are bringing someone
My ex too ㅎㅎ

sohn youngjae:
oh then you DEFINITELY shouldnt go alone!!!

younghoon (jaehyun's friend):
Jaehyun said the same thing

sohn youngjae:
hes right!!
ill go with you
we can work on our backstory
i took some acting classes in college yknow
im a bit of a bad liar tbh but we can def pull this off
can we meet to talk this thru?

Another pause. Is he busy? Or is Youngjae just sounding as unhinged as Jaehyun did earlier at the gym? Or… Fuck, he just remembered Younghoon called him hot. Maybe Youngjae is sending mixed signals here and coming off as thirsty? Not his intention at all. Fuck.

sohn youngjae:
im not hitting on you btw
i mean this totally platonically and respectfully (?)
just wanna help

younghoon (jaehyun's friend):
No, I know
Sure let's meet and talk!!
Thank you ㅎㅎ I appreciate you offering to do this!

sohn youngjae:
dont mention it!
youre jaehyun hyungs age right?
can i call you hyung?

younghoon (jaehyun's friend):
Of course ^^

The end of the year is usually a little stressful due to year-end performances at the dance academy, but once December rolls around, things tend to cool off. It's just in time for Youngjae to plan something for his birthday and for Christmas, except this year only one of those is really happening for him: he's throwing a small party for his birthday, but he refuses to hold a Christmas dinner on the same week. He can't deal with the stress of organizing two parties.

The problem is, this year he doesn't have anywhere else to be for Christmas.

As it stands, his mom is going skiing with her friends, Juyeon is going on a trip with his boyfriends (who are also Youngjae's friends, so that's three less friends to hang out with!), Kevin is already back home in Canada, Sunwoo is taking his family to Japan… It feels like everyone has something to do except for him. Even his school friends are busy, and Youngjae is usually the one to get them out of the house!

That's what he tells Younghoon when they meet for coffee two days after that night at the gym. He gives the man the whole story because look, things are a little awkward at first. Younghoon sits with his back straight and his eyes wide, glancing towards the counter like he's expecting the barista to come save him from having to talk to a virtual stranger. Youngjae doesn't hold it against him; even he finds this arrangement a little odd, and he's used to breaking the ice with strangers. Most of his friendships started with him just approaching someone and talking to them until they warmed up to him.

"Anyway, that's why I'm actually stoked about this," he tells Younghoon. "I mean, I know it must be kind of a weird situation for you, but I'll be happy to be your buffer at the party. Brunch? It's a brunch, right?"

"Yeah." Younghoon is smiling, albeit a little shyly still. It's a good look on him, Youngjae finds—he looks cold when he's serious, but the ice melts once he's smiling. Yeah, he definitely looks like a model, Youngjae can totally see it now. "The food tends to be really good at these things too. The catering service is excellent, that I can guarantee you."

"Oh, now we're talking!" Youngjae jokes, happy to see it gets a laugh out of Younghoon. Happy with how things are progressing, Youngjae reaches for his backpack and pulls a small notebook and a pen out of it. "So, should we start planning this out? We should start with basic information."

Younghoon stares at him, confused. "Basic information?"

"Yeah, about you, about me," Youngjae gesticulates with his pen before he looks down at the paper again, jotting down bullet points: name, age, birthday, name of parents. "What's your full name?"

"Uh… Kim Younghoon."

Youngjae writes it down.

"Age? And when is your birthday, hyung?"

He goes down his list and starts adding things once he remembers them. Pets: yes, a family dog. Nicknames: bread? He listens closely to the explanation; that's some important info. Sexual orientation? Favorite genre of music? Favorite movie?

"Hyung?" Youngjae looks up when he gets no answer. "Favorite movie? Or drama, if you don't watch movies. Do you watch movies, actually?"

Looking a little like he's trying to hold back laughter, Younghoon says, "Sorry, I'm just… Do we need to do this?"

"Of course. If I'm gonna be your boyfriend I need to know everything about you." Something about his words makes his stomach do a small flip. "Your pretend boyfriend, I mean. I don't want people to catch us off-guard, that would be embarrassing for you."

"Yeah, but we don't have to know everything about each other," Younghoon argues. He sounds amused, which is good, but Youngjae still doesn't get where he's coming from. "We'll have known each other for what, three weeks on Christmas? Even if we were dating for real, we wouldn't know all that."

I would, though, Youngjae thinks. He doesn't say it. He is inexperienced, isn't he? Maybe he shouldn't be leading this if he doesn't know the first thing about dating a guy. At the same time, however, he prefers to do things thoroughly. And he has done the math.

"If you're taking me to your work function, we must've been dating for longer, though," he says. "We may have known each other for two days but that's not what we're telling your coworkers."

"Oh. It's not?"

"No, hyung!" Youngjae leans back on his chair to explain, using his hands for emphasis. "It's early December, right? December 7th, to be exact. If we had met now, started dating, and you took me to your job, wouldn't that sound weird? No, we need to tell them we've known each other for at least a couple months," he says. He looks off into the distance, trying to remember the numbers. "We could've met on Jaehyun hyung's birthday, and that would give us a little over two months of getting to know each other and casual dating before things got serious. Which would be now. This is our getting serious phase. You taking me as your plus-one is like, one of our first steps to make it official."

Younghoon doesn't look like he's holding back laughter anymore. He's staring at Youngjae, and unless Youngjae is terribly mistaken, he looks… impressed.

"Woah, you really thought this through."

"Well, yeah. I like to do things right."

With a nod, Younghoon says, "Jaehyun said you were meticulous."

They talked about him? Huh. Youngjae isn't feeling bold enough to ask about it, so instead he turns their attention back to The Plan, as he's starting to think of it, capital letters and all.

"So, I'm thinking we should meet a few times just so we're not total strangers until Christmas. You could actually—"

"Thanks," Younghoon cuts him off to say, like he can't wait for Youngjae to complete his thought. "I appreciate you doing all this. I really do."

Oh, Youngjae doesn't know how to answer that. "It's no big deal, I'm happy to." He clears his throat and looks down at his notebook again. "We should think of selfies, too. It wouldn't be bad to post each other on Instagram, even if it's just a casual selfie in a photo dump. Oh, we should follow each other, hang on…"

The next time he looks up, Younghoon is smiling that cute smile of his again. Less shy, but just as amused, as it would seem.

Good. The last thing they need is to be awkward around each other.

They agree to meet again that week for lunch.

Youngjae is still going into work to finalize a few things, and Younghoon has photoshoots scheduled for the first half of the month, so they agree to meet for meals. At least at first, anyway—Youngjae is adamant they need to do more research, i.e. spend some time together, just to smooth things out. But lunch is fine for now.

His notebook gets filled with information he considers pertinent: favorite artists, hometown, name of closest friends. Their only mutual friends seem to be Jaehyun and Jacob, but that's fine. He writes down carefully the names of people he's never seen but that Younghoon is apparently very close to.

It's a bit silly, sure. Younghoon seems to think the same thing, even though he goes along and answers Youngjae's questions dutifully. That first day, he pays for lunch and says that's the least he can do, since Youngjae is going out of his way to do all that for his sake. It flusters Youngjae a little—shouldn't he pay for his part, at least?Or should they split the bill? He's annoyed at himself that he never thought to ask his friends about who pays when it's two guys on a date, since technically he's Younghoon's fake boyfriend for the time being. Surely there's protocol for this, right?

The next time, Youngjae picks up the tab before Younghoon can argue. The third time, Younghoon suggests they do rock, paper, scissors—Youngjae loses, so he pays again, happily so, much to Younghoon's chagrin. That solves that, at least. Youngjae is fine with letting luck decide who should get the bill for all their subsequent non-dates.

The fourth time, they go to a fast food restaurant for dinner. Youngjae felt like milkshake, and Younghoon was craving fries, so they decided on the franchise closest to the studio where Younghoon just finished having a schedule.

It's when they're leaving that Youngjae's brain malfunctions. He notices the door right ahead of them and panics briefly: should he get the door? Or should he let Younghoon get the door? Who should hold the door open? If Younghoon was a girl, he knows what the obvious answer would be. For about half a second, he freezes, unsure what to do. Right before he decides to get the door, however, Younghoon reaches it first.

They end up bumping elbows. Younghoon looks at him, puzzled, and in his haste to not act weird, Youngjae reaches for the handle and yanks it open. His movement pushes them back a bit, and they awkwardly sidestep each other to leave the building, Youngjae's ears burning in embarrassment right down to the scarf around his neck.

"Are you cold?" Younghoon asks once they're outside. He steps up to fix Youngjae's scarf closer to his chin. "You're all pink, you sure you don't want a ride?"

God, the proximity. The gesture of fixing his scarf. The goddamn innuendo that Youngjae's brain, clearly stuck in 7th grade, can't help but conjure out of a perfectly innocent sentence. He knows he's growing pinker by the second, so he pulls back slightly, busying his hands with the scarf to tighten it around himself.

"Yeah, it's—I'm good. Thank you. I'll just walk, I have to go the convenience store."

He doesn't, the words are just jumping out of his mouth for some reason.

"Oh, really?" Younghoon says. "Let's go together, then. I wanna buy some ramyeon."

"That's exactly what I was gonna buy!" Youngjae lies through his teeth. "Let's go. This way."

He's taken two steps before he hears Younghoon laugh, saying, "Pretty sure it's this way, though?"

"Right. Yeah." Youngjae turns back around and follows Younghoon to the right end of the block this time. "That way, sorry."

They walk in silence for a moment. The streets are still alive at this hour, just barely after dinnertime, but not too crowded. The sidewalk on this side is mostly empty, and wide enough to fit both of them, so they can walk side by side—but that only sends Youngjae into another brief flash of panic. Younghoon is closer to the curb while Youngjae is closer to the buildings, and should it be like that? He learned a long time ago that he should take the curbside when with a date, except Younghoon is not his date, and he's pretty sure that applied specifically to girls, anyway, so—

"You could've taken the door, you know," Younghoon says, pulling him out of his most recent spiral and straight back into the first one. "That would be fine."

Flustered, Youngjae looks up at Younghoon only to find him smiling gently.

"Sorry," he spills out before he can decide if he wants to talk about it. "I didn't—I wasn't sure. Did I look too much like an idiot?"

"Not too much, just the right amount."

It's probably the first time Younghoon has teased him like a friend would, so Youngjae doesn't even mind the joke. He playfully elbows him to retaliate.

"Jaehyun has told me," Younghoon says. "That you've only recently learned you're into men."

"Man, he's such a blabbermouth."

"He is, but don't hold it against him. I was the one who asked, so…"

Youngjae almost loses his step turning to watch Younghoon's face. "What did you ask him?"

"If you were gay. Or, you know, queer." When Youngjae says nothing, it's his turn to elbow him softly. "Yah, I called you hot, of course I asked about you. I can't believe you're making me say this out loud."

Oh, but Youngjae is very, very happy that he is saying all that out loud. It disconcerts him a bit, since Younghoon is essentially admitting he was attracted to him when they first met, but it also makes him feel… Good. Warm. It gives him that funny thrill of feeling worthy of someone's attention, especially in this case, with a handsome guy saying that about him.

"I'm still not entirely sure, to be honest," Youngjae says, failing to hold back a smile. "Like, if I'm gay or bi or what… I just know I'm not straight."

Younghoon hums to that. They're reaching the corner where the convenience store is located, so they slow down. The conversation doesn't seem to be over, and the semi-darkness of the building towering over them feels more welcoming than the artificial lights inside.

"That's what's a little weird, because being straight is all I ever learned," Youngjae confesses. He puts his hands inside his jacket pockets, looks around. There's no one on this side of the street with them. Younghoon waits for him to continue. "I don't know how to—How to do anything. Like, with that door back there, and now with the sidewalk…"

"What about the sidewalk?"

"Like, if I should be on the curbside instead of you," Youngjae explains, pointing aimlessly at the ground between them. "If we were dating, should I walk on the curbside or not, you know?"

Younghoon looks at him like he's suddenly incomprehensible. "Why should you walk on the curbside?"

"It's the rule! The sidewalk rule!" Still no sign of recognition. "Wait, isn't that a thing?"

"I've never heard of it," Younghoon says.

"How do you do it, then? I mean," Youngjae stutters a bit, afraid that he's about to sound like a clueless baby gay, like Jaehyun has taken to calling him, "Between two guys. There's no rule about that?"

Younghoon seems to think about it for a second. "No? At least not that I know of."

"What about the doors?"

"Youngjae-yah," Younghoon chuckles, his eyes glinting pretty under the streetlights. "There's no set rule for that. Not all gay guys are the same. Some probably like to take the door, some probably like to have the door held open for them."

"And you?"

With a shrug, Younghoon says, "I never thought about it. I'm tall, though, so I often reach doors first, I guess?"

That makes sense. It explains why he reached for the door just now, too. He did get there first. Youngjae was so busy overthinking etiquette rules that shouldn't apply to them anyway that he didn't consider the obvious: it was just a door.

"Come on," Younghoon starts towards the convenience store. "Let's get inside and I'll let you hold the door for me."

Youngjae grumbles about that being a stupid rule anyway and Younghoon laughs heartily as they go inside the store. They make quick work of buying a few packets of ramyeon and some sweets, and a bottle of water for each. Without having to say so, they understand they're not necessarily going home right now. They leave the store again and walk a little more, towards the riverside that's just a couple blocks away.

"It must be disorienting," Younghoon says once they're finding a place to sit on the grass. "I get why you'd be confused, but honestly, you don't need to be."

Sitting next to him and stretching his legs forward, Youngjae sighs. "I know. I feel a little dumb for worrying so much about it, but—"

"No, it makes sense," Younghoon says, sounding very sure about it. "You're gonna accompany me for two hours and you're asking the name of my grandparents, so it's safe to say you're very detail-oriented. You like to plan things ahead of time. You didn't plan for this, though."

No, Youngjae didn't. He doesn't know how he went over twenty years of his life without questioning himself, but he did. He watched all the movies and all the dramas and learned the implicit and explicit rules about dating woman as a man; none of those ever taught him how to date a man, however.

"How did you know?" Younghoon asks. "Jaehyun didn't tell me that, he just said it was recent."

"Oh, it was very stupid."

That's enough to make Younghoon laugh, and Youngjae feels emboldened to tell all the silly details, safe in the knowledge that Younghoon is listening and not judging him for it.

"I'm a lightweight, and I got a little tipsy on apricot soju—"

"Oh my god, you are a lightweight if that gets you drunk."

Ok, so judging him a little bit. Youngjae chuckles, embarrassed but happy about it.

"I said 'tipsy'! But anyway, I was whining that I was lonely and that I wanted to make out with someone, and my friend—you should meet him, he's so funny—was next to me, so I joked that I was gonna kiss him, and then he asked if I really wanted to, and then… I kissed him."

"Do you like him?"

Youngjae snorts at the mere idea. "No, not at all. We're just bros. But Sunwoo's bi and very chill about hooking up with friends, so he was like, sure, let's make out. I was super into the kiss, but not into him exactly. It was just the idea of kissing another guy that made a lightbulb go on inside my head, like, oh? I could've been doing this all this time?"

To the side, Younghoon is looking at him with a serious face. Now that they've spent a little time together, though, Youngjae knows to see behind the icy exterior; Younghoon just looks pensive. The breeze blows his bangs away from his face, showing his elegant brow line.

"I think this friend knew you needed a push," he says.

"Oh, he totally knew," Youngjae agrees. He leans back on his hands and looks up at the sky. They can see very few stars here in the heart of the city, but it's still pretty enough. "He said as much. But he didn't wanna rush me either, so it had to come from me."

Younghoon nods sagely. "That's a wise friend."

"What about you?" Curiosity gets the better of him, and he needs to ask. "What happened between you and your ex?"

There's a moment in which Younghoon just smiles to himself, a sad little smile that Youngjae hasn't seen yet. He looks up and meets Youngjae's eyes. "He cheated on me. Although…" He tilts his head, as if thinking. "Some people wouldn't call it cheating. He was with me when he met someone else and started flirting with them… Then one day he just vanished."

Youngjae stares, confused. "What do you mean, vanished?"

"He blocked my number, deleted me from his social media." Younghoon shrugs like he's not describing a complete jackass. "Two days later, he was with the other guy."

Now Youngjae isn't just staring. His jaw drops. "He replaced you? Just like that?"

"Yeah. To all of our coworkers and mutual acquaintances, it was an amicable split, though. Or at least, that's what he told them."

Yeah, Youngjae would have doxxed the hell out of that guy if he had done that to one of his friends, Jaehyun was right. He's not so sure he doesn't want to doxx him anyway. Younghoon seems like the least deserving person of that kind of treatment.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that but honestly, good riddance you're not with him anymore," Youngjae says, a little too incensed. It must be noticeable because Younghoon laughs, and Youngjae is quick to add, "I mean, I don't mean to talk shit about your ex partner, but—"

"Oh, feel free to talk shit about him, that's my friends' favorite pastime."

"Then fuck him a million times over!" Youngjae declares loudly.

The hearty laugh it gets out of Younghoon helps him forget all about what got them there in the first place. Youngjae isn't too worried about his faux pas with the door now that he's told Younghoon about it and came clean about his own inexperience. Learning about Younghoon's ex also strengthens his resolve to be the absolute best fake boyfriend Younghoon could ever find for that Christmas brunch. After all, Youngjae may be a little insecure about his ability to be a good real boyfriend, but if there's one thing he can do, is be a fake one.

He'll make sure of that.

"You really don't have to do this," Younghoon repeats for what feels like the hundredth time. "It's not like people are gonna quiz you on your anime knowledge."

They're at Younghoon's place that he shares with a friend. It's a nice apartment, spacious and well-decorated. Clean, too, which is a huge plus in Youngjae's book. They agreed to meet here for dinner, and Youngjae is glad that they did—knowing Younghoon's place is definitely gonna help him play the part, as is getting to know his taste for entertainment.

Youngjae tsks as he gets comfortable on the couch and pulls the blanket over his knees too. "I gotta at least have an idea of what you like, even if I don't like it. Besides, I'm curious, you made it sound so good."

"It is! It's amazing, you'll see," Younghoon says. He pauses, looking down at the nonexistent space between them. "Uh, we could maybe…"

Realizing he just sat down literally thigh to thigh with him, Youngjae scoots a little farther away.

"Oh, sorry. Force of habit."

It's true. He's so used to sitting close together to whatever friend is nearby that it doesn't occur to him that proximity can mean something else with guys too now. Besides, maybe he shouldn't immediately default Younghoon as a friend. They've been in touch for about two weeks now; they text every day, mostly just checking in and sharing links and photos to get to know each other as actual boyfriends would, all according to The Plan, and it's been chill so far, but Youngjae is not attributing meaning to any of it. He knows better than to force closeness like that.

"Are you into skinship?" Younghoon asks. "We haven't discussed PDA at all."

"Oh, that's true. I mean, I figured there would be no PDA, since it's a work thing and, you know…"

Younghoon smirks. "And you're scared to be touchy with a guy in public?"

"No! I mean, not scared, I just—" Youngjae fumbles for the right words and ends up word vomiting all of them at once. "I just thought it wouldn't be a super open and public thing, since you're technically famous, and your bosses will probably be there, and—"

He's interrupted by Younghoon laughing, which in other circumstances he would question, but he doesn't now. It's a cute laugh, too; Younghoon covers his mouth with the back of his hand before looking at Youngjae and saying, not unkindly, "Yah, stop overthinking! I'm not famous, you know. I mean, unless you're in the fashion industry, you wouldn't know me. And my bosses don't care. Most of them are gay too."

"Oh." Ok, now Youngjae feels stupid. "My bad, I didn't know."

"From what you tell me, you're not exactly in the straightest field either."

That gives Youngjae pause. "Huh, I guess that's true." Most of his coworkers are not straight. Most of his friends, too… "My aunt is a lesbian," he blurts out. "I don't know if I told you that."

"You didn't. That's cool. Have you come out to her?"

"Not really... I want to, though."

Younghoon pats his hand on top of the blanket. "There's no rush, but do that someday."

Instead of answering, Youngjae reacts on impulse and takes Younghoon's hand in his. He intertwines their fingers and rest their hands on his lap, glancing up to find Younghoon looking curiously at him.

"Practice," Youngjae says, trying to sound nonchalant about it even though his romantic heart is a little excited about the idea of holding hands with a guy like this. "We might need to hold hands at the event and all that. This much should be ok, from what you've just told me."

"Oh, right. Yeah."

A beat.

"Should we, uhm... Should we start the first episode, then?"

"Yeah!"

If Youngjae chooses to believe his eyes, he'll think Younghoon is a little flustered for a change. He hits play and stares resolutely at the TV, and Youngjae needs to remind himself to turn his gaze away from his slightly pink cheeks and actually focus. He kind of already forgot the name of the anime they're watching, but that's fine.

For the next hour and a half, Younghoon is more than happy to explain the characters and the setting to him. For most of that time, too, they hold hands, or Younghoon plays with Youngjae's fingers, and it's surprisingly fine. His hand is bony and his fingers long, but the skin is soft, nice to the touch. At some point Youngjae is battling his eyelids so he leans his head on Younghoon's shoulder without thinking, not realizing he's scooting closer again for it.

Younghoon says nothing, and Youngjae ends up falling asleep to the rhythm of his breath.

This year, Youngjae chose a safe middle ground between the ridiculously extravagant birthday party he threw last year and the modest and kind of boring party of the year before that. It's at a club he's been to a million times with friends, close enough to his place that he can just take the party there if he feels like it, and not too fancy that he'd bleed his bank account dry. All in all, he's satisfied with it.

He's also happy to see Younghoon walking in behind Jaehyun with a gift bag in hand.

"Hey," he greets Jaehyun first before beaming at Younghoon. "Hi, hyung!"

"Hi, Youngjae-yah," Younghoon greets him back, smiling just as wide.

"Wow, playing favorites much?" Jaehyun jokes. He pats Youngjae on the shoulder, smiling at him. "Happy birthday, man. You're finally almost out of toddlerhood!"

Youngjae pushes him away, laughing. "Shut up. Where's my present, hyung?"

"I'm your present!" Jaehyun opens his arms and now it's Younghoon who pushes him playfully. "Just kidding, I'll send you on Kakao."

"I told him an actual gift would be nicer than just giving you money, but he didn't listen," Younghoon tells Youngjae, handing him the gift bag. "Happy birthday!"

His smile is all Youngjae can see for a second, feeling very happy with himself that Younghoon not only came, but chose to give him a gift, too. He's deliberately not looking too closely at that feeling.

"Thanks, hyung!" He says, shutting himself up in his brain. "And thanks for coming, you know."

"Of course," Younghoon says. It feels like he's about to step up and give Youngjae a friendly hug but then Jaehyun starts dragging him away, and the moment is over.

Later, once Youngjae has talked to as many people as he could, had a few mocktails and an entire tray of finger food, he finds himself being led to the dance floor. The DJ has been playing some old classics, stuff he used to listen to when he was in school, and the nostalgia is just the right amount for his heart to feel light in his chest.

It's when Daehwi turns him around for some sort of elaborate step where they're back to back that Youngjae catches sight of someone at the edge of the dance floor. His smile comes unbidden when Younghoon glances around and their eyes meet; without thinking twice about it, Youngjae walks up to him and takes him by the hand.

"Come on, let's dance!"

"Oh, no, I don't—" Younghoon tries to resist, but Youngjae doesn't relent, eventually pulling him closer to the middle of the dance floor. "I don't know how to dance!" He says over the music, looking apologetic.

"It's ok, I can teach you. Here."

It's all a bit silly, because Youngjae isn't really doing any steps, just moving to the beat, but he still leads Younghoon, showing him how to shake his hips, use his arms… Youngjae takes his hands at some point and does a silly ahjussi dance of pulling and pushing, and Younghoon cackles but goes along.

Then Daehwi comes back to pull Younghoon into a grind and Youngjae bursts out laughing with Younghoon's scandalized face, and then Juyeon is joining them, and then a song comes on that everyone seems to know the lyrics to, so the crowd starts singing together… It's such good fun that before Youngjae realizes, he's parched, sweat dripping down his temples.

He leaves the dancing floor in the direction of the bar. There he finds Jacob, nursing a drink, while a clingy and probably tipsy Jaehyun leans over him, with arms around his neck.

"Hey, birthday boy," Jacob greets him as he orders a bottle of water. "You looked like you were having fun there."

The bartender hands him his water and Youngjae chugs half of it in one gulp, nodding. "I was," he takes another sip. "I am!"

He looks back at the dance floor. Sunwoo and Sanha are goading Juyeon into doing some sort of complicated choreography, but Youngjae's attention is drawn somewhere else. Younghoon is still dancing, although a bit awkwardly, laughing at himself, talking with some of Sunwoo's friends. He's clearly enjoying himself; Youngjae smiles at the sight.

"Film a video, it'll last longer," Jaehyun says, pulling him back to the here and now.

Youngjae turns to find him smirking. "Huh? What was that?"

"Film a video, it'll last longer! And serve as jack off mat—"

Jacob puts a hand over Jaehyun's mouth while Jaehyun laughs. "What he means is," Jacob tries to say, half-wrestling with Jaehyun still leaning all over him. "You've gotten quite close to Younghoonie. That's cute."

"You want him soooo much…" Jaehyun intones in the half a second he manages to free himself from Jacob's hands, laughing when his boyfriend frantically tries to shush him.

"I don't!" Youngjae retorts, confused, caught. (Caught?) Man, it's hot in here, isn't it? "I mean, I'm not—We're just, I don't know. I'm just helping him with his thing on Christmas."

Wrong choice of words. Jaehyun cackles so loudly that it seems to cover the music, repeating ohh, his thing! behind Jacob's hand.

"Ignore him," Jacob says, meaning the tipsy man wrapped around him. "Go have fun, enjoy your party, Youngjae-yah. I'm taking this old grandpa home."

Still muffled, Jaehyun whines, hey, we're the same age! but Jacob just starts nudging him off the stool and towards the doors with a friendly wave to Youngjae.

Well, that was that, then. Where was Youngjae again?

Right. Birthday party. Yeah. He glances at Younghoon again, and decides that he's not gonna overthink this. Not tonight. Tomorrow, maybe. Preferably never. Yeah, that seems wise.

Finishing his water bottle in one go, he puts it down and goes straight back to the dance floor.

The day after his birthday party, Youngjae is grateful for his decision not to drink. He doesn't have a hangover, so all he does is lazy around his apartment, cleaning up his room a little bit and revising some topics for The Plan. He checks his outfit for the next day—a white button-up and black slacks, and a long coat since it's cold out. Fancy, but not too fancy. Around dinnertime, he texts Younghoon a pic of the clothes laid out on top of his bed.

sohn youngjae:
are we sure i dont need a suit jacket
i could wear a suit
should i??

younghoonie hyung:
No, this is good ㅎㅎ
I mean you could wear a suit
But I'm wearing a leather jacket…
We would look like we're going to different events

sohn youngjae:
right yeah
ill be there at 10 to pick you up

younghoonie hyung:
I'll be waitinggg ^^
See you tomorrow

❤️

sohn youngjae:
see you tomorrow hyung!!! ❤️❤️❤️

As planned, Youngjae is there to pick up Younghoon at 10 a.m. sharp. He texts to say he's there, and in less than five minutes Younghoon emerges from the entrance to his building, smiling as he opens the door and lets himself inside.

Then he stops, staring at Youngjae. "Woah."

A little self-conscious, Youngjae resists the urge to pull down the sun visor to check himself for the tenth time. "Too much?"

"No! Not at all," Younghoon says. He closes the door but his mouth remains open as he looks Youngjae from head to toe. "Are you wearing makeup?"

"Yeah. I mean, just a bit. I stopped by the shop first to get my makeup done…"

Ok, screw it, Youngjae needs to check the mirror and make sure he doesn't look ridiculous. His reflection shows what he already knows: he has some foundation and lipstick on, and whatever it is they use on eyelashes that make them look fuller without looking painted. He messes a little with his bangs, trying to get them to droop stylishly over his forehead.

"What do you think?"

"I think you look amazing," Younghoon says, reverently. He must hear himself, because he clears his throat and starts putting on his seatbelt. "You really don't do anything halfway, do you?"

Proud of himself, Youngjae grins and slaps the sun visor back up, putting away the mirror.

"Nope," he says simply.

The place the brunch is taking place is, in one word, expensive.

Youngjae doesn't feel too silly for thinking he should be wearing a suit now. They're on a part of town where they tower over the nearby neighborhoods, on a seemingly huge grass terrace with big buffet tables and a live band playing some soft ambient music.

"Damn," Youngjae says as they walk down the stairs that lead to the area. "This is next level."

Younghoon chuckles. "Welcome to the field of smoke and mirrors. Everything is about the optics here, don't let the grandeur fool you. Come on, let's grab a drink."

They do that, and start greeting people on the way. It's mostly hey, how are you doing's and hi, nice to see you too's, but Youngjae gets introduced to a few people too, in his official capacity as Younghoon's boyfriend. For the first person they do that to, one of Younghoon's fellow models, Youngjae is nervous. He doesn't need to pretend to be quiet, because he's so afraid he's gonna mess it up that he just lets Younghoon lead the conversation—a first for him, but this is Younghoon's milieu, anyway. It makes sense for him to take a backseat and let the conversation flow without him interfering much.

The woman, Doyeon, sounds nice and friendly with Younghoon, and extends that kindness to Youngjae, too, introducing him to the people with her. From there on, things flow smoothly. Youngjae manages to keep his cool and actually interact with people without making a fool of himself, and pats himself on the back mentally for holding conversation well with whoever they cross paths with. They get a table at some point, with Doyeon and some of Younghoon's model friends, and finally get to eat something, but the influx of people coming to greet them is constant.

Surprisingly, Younghoon is the one who seems a little overwhelmed. Not overly so, but enough that Youngjae notices his eyes darting here and there, and the tight shy smile that Youngjae remembers from that first time they met.

Without thinking about it, Youngjae puts his arm around the back of Younghoon's chair and leans in, lowering his voice to talk to him. "You ok, hyung?"

Younghoon nods. He glances around the table, then leans into Youngjae to whisper back, "I told you, I'm an INFP. Socializing like this makes me a little anxious."

"You're never that anxious with me, though."

"I used to be," Younghoon says with a smirk. "You're the one who chose to ignore it."

Touché. "We were strangers, so that made sense, we just had to get to know each other first. But you know these people already. You know them better than me, even."

"Are you sure about that? I know the name of your mom and sister. I don't even know if Doyeonie has a sibling."

He has a point there. They've been studying each other all this time, and while Youngjae was focused on learning about Younghoon, he did share a lot about himself, too. That was an indisputable part of The Plan—Youngjae is an oversharer, and he figured that if he and Younghoon were dating, he would've most definitely have told him a lot about himself. It's only occurring to him now that yeah, he doesn't know his own coworkers all that well; the two or three that he's close with, sure, but not everyone.

It makes sense that for an introvert like Younghoon, Youngjae is the person he probably knows the most about in this setting. Which makes him feel all sorts of ways that he's trying very hard to ignore right now.

"Oh, shit."

It's rare to hear Younghoon curse, so Youngjae turns to him. "What?"

They're closer than they need to be, with Youngjae still leaning towards him, but that's a good thing, because Younghoon can just whisper, with a tone of dejection, "I accidentally made eye contact with Youngkyun."

"He's here?!"

"Yeah. Next to the drinks."

Youngjae tries to casually and not at all suspiciously take a look around. It's not hard to spot Younghoon's ex—the guy is looking straight at them from a few tables over, standing with a glass of juice in hand. He's grinning, although if at them or if at the conversation he's having with two other people, Youngjae can't tell.

"We could just ignore him," Youngjae suggests.

"No, I made eye contact. It's gonna be weird if I ignore him now."

With a sigh, Younghoon pulls away and starts to stand up. Youngjae mirrors him, deciding to follow his lead. This is what they've been preparing for all this time. The whole thing, The Plan, it was all about this moment, wasn't it? Youngjae pats himself down to make sure his clothes look as pristine as possible as he follows Younghoon through the guests.

They reach Youngkyun and two other men. One of them greets Younghoon politely but excuses himself, leaving the two couples alone. With a smile, Youngkyun says, "Hyung, you came. And you brought company."

He gives Youngjae a once-over, which just irks Youngjae immediately. Younghoon, however, takes the high road and says, "Hi, Youngkyun-ah, Taeyang-sshi." He dips his head in a bow to both of them before glancing at Youngjae. He looks so out of his element, it pains Youngjae's heart a little bit. "I don't think you've met Youngjae yet. He's—"

"The boyfriend," Youngjae completes before he can, wrapping his hands around Younghoon's elbow and opening a big smile. "Nice to meet you," he says, bowing his head too.

The man called Taeyang bows back with a tense little smile, "Nice to meet you too, Youngjae-sshi."

Cool, so they're all aware that this is awkward. Only Youngkyun seems to be unaffected, but Youngjae has met enough assholes in his lifetime to see the false confidence for the mask it is. He wasn't expecting Younghoon to approach him, clearly. He probably wasn't expecting Youngjae, either.

"Yeah, nice to meet you," Youngkyun says, forcing a polite smile. "I didn't know Younghoonie hyung was gonna bring someone. Things must be serious, then."

The audacity just isn't more worrying than the fact that Younghoon has gone stiff next to him, but Youngjae's got this. "Oh, they are!" He looks up fondly at Younghoon, saying, "Everyone that matters has already given their blessing, so…"

"Even the parents?" Youngkyun asks, looking at Younghoon with eyebrows raised. "Even your dad, hyung?"

That's about as low as he can go without outright calling Younghoon names. From what Youngjae has learned, Younghoon's dad is rarely at home; he works long nights, goes on business trips that take weeks at a time. Younghoon loves his dad dearly, but it's obvious, from the little he talks about him, that they're not very close.

"Uhm, well, dad is…"

Younghoon is about to say no, Youngjae can tell, so he lets his elbow go to take his hand instead. He intertwines their fingers, gives it a little squeeze. Younghoon pauses, looks down at their hands then up at Youngjae. It's very brief, barely a second, but the eye contact tells Youngjae a million things.

One of them is, I don't wanna do this.

So Youngjae turns to Youngkyun and, with the affable but dry smile some of his students' parents like to give him, he says, "He should be back from his work trip soon, and then we'll have a nice dinner where I'll grill him some meat. Any more questions?"

He's keeping things polite, but his tone is enough to tell the other two that the pretense is over. They get the message—Youngkyun's expression sours, and Taeyang glances worriedly between him and Youngjae, saying, "Listen, I think we got off on the wrong foot here…"

"Yeah, but we were just leaving, anyway," Youngjae says, tugging on Younghoon's hand. "Let's go, baby?"

Younghoon smiles, tightening his grip on Youngjae's hand. "Yeah, let's go. Have a nice day, Taeyang-sshi." To Youngkyun, he just nods with a polite, "Youngkyun-ah."

"Bye, hyung," Youngkyun says, still looking like he's got something sour on his tongue, but he forces a smile out anyway. "See you around."

Youngjae doesn't answer, just gives his back to them and pulls Younghoon with him.

As soon as they're a good distance away, Younghoon exhales, tired. They're still holding hands, so Youngjae gives it a gentle squeeze. "You good?"

"Yeah. Just questioning how I ever thought dating him was a good idea." It's a good question, but Younghoon makes it sound lighter than it should be, which is a good sign. He runs a hand through his hair, shaking his bangs out of his face. "God, I feel icky."

"Right?!" Youngjae agrees right away. "The way he looked at me was so… Ugh."

It seems like they're heading aimlessly to the bathrooms, so Youngjae corrects their course so they end up by the balconies instead. The view up here is beautiful, even though the sky looks a little gray. The whole event is prepared for the possibility of snow, with tents and beautiful flower arrangements covering the area with the food and the guest tables, but there's no snow today, only a gray sky and a chilly breeze.

They find a good spot away from other guests so they can regroup. It's done. The Plan worked, even if not as flawlessly as Youngjae had hoped—he didn't expect Younghoon's ex to be so hostile, although maybe that was an oversight on his part.

"He's vile," Younghoon says, as if reading Youngjae's mind. "I almost feel bad for Taeyang. But not really, because he knows what he got himself into, so…"

"Yeah. You really should start choosing better boyfriends, hyung."

Younghoon glances at him then away, his lips curling into a smirk. "Aw, I'm 'hyung' again? I thought I was 'baby' now."

"I don't know why I said that," Youngjae admits, a little sheepishly. "If anything, you would be the one calling me 'baby'. Given that, you know, you're older, and all that."

All the answer he gets is a laugh, and Younghoon pulling him closer to give him a playful hip bump. They haven't let go of each other's hand, Youngjae realizes.

"I'm glad you're ok, you know. I'm glad I came with you."

Younghoon smiles prettily, and his voice comes out quieter, but just as strong, when he says, "I'm glad you came, too. Thank you. I hated every second of it but you made it so much more bearable."

That's maybe a little more than Youngjae is expecting to hear. He's also maybe blushing high up his ears.

"I did nothing," Youngjae says. "I wanted to, I think I could've cursed at him in three different languages if you had said it was ok. But at least The Plan worked."

Younghoon nods so enthusiastically that his hair bobs with it. "It absolutely worked."

"So… What now?"

They look around. The brunch is still in full-swing, with guests in pretty much every corner of the terrace. There's also a lot of food being served still.

"Now we eat?" Younghoon suggests.

Youngjae's stomach agrees before he can, growling in hunger. They laugh and start towards the buffet, still hand in hand.

It's only later, after they've eaten all they can and greeted even more people (because apparently Younghoon works with half of Seoul), that they leave the event. They don't see Youngkyun again; Youngjae posits that they must've left, and Younghoon is delighted by the idea.

"He can be the one to leave for once," he says, not realizing how sad that sounds to Youngjae's ears.

How did that guy ever manage to date—and subsequently hurt—someone like Younghoon is beyond him.

With the sun already threatening to vanish behind the city skyline, Youngjae parks in front of Younghoon's building to drop him off. He turns off the engine, unsure how they're supposed to part now. They had been meeting for a specific purpose, and that purpose isn't a thing anymore, so is Youngjae supposed to say goodbye? Are they gonna see each other again? If so, how? Should he ask, or is it too—

"We should do this again," Younghoon says. He's got this look on his face that makes Youngjae feel all warm and gooey inside, but he can't be sure that's not wishful thinking on his part. "Now without the ghost of my ex looming over our shoulders all the time."

"Yeah. You should see an exorcist about that, hyung. That shit's serious."

Younghoon throws his head back laughing, and the warm feeling only grows warmer inside Youngjae's chest.

"I'm sure you exorcised him for good, don't worry."

He looks so radiant, with his cheeks dusted pink from laughing, that Youngjae finds himself speechless for a change. One second stretches into two, that stretches into a million while the two of them just look at each other, the volume turned all the way down on the radio and on the world around them.

Then something catches Younghoon's eye and he points to the windshield. "Oh, it's snowing."

It is, Youngjae sees now. It's starting to snow, the gray giving way to a constellation a shade lighter.

"I should probably go in now," Younghoon says, reaching for the door handle. "Text me when you get home?"

"Yeah, for sure."

That's not it. Youngjae can only watch as Younghoon leaves his car and jogs the rest of the way towards the building, the feeling that no, that's not it burgeoning inside of him. It's like Youngjae has seen the catcher giving him a sign but hasn't thrown the pitch yet. The longer he stays here, doing nothing, the worse the feeling gets. Like he's about to lose the whole game.

He throws his door open and shouts over the roof of his car, "Hyung, wait!"

Younghoon stops with his hand on the glass door that leads into his building. He looks back, and Youngjae slams his car shut and runs around it, towards Younghoon.

They meet halfway, on the sidewalk. Youngjae is panting and he has no idea why, because that wasn't a long distance at all. His heart is about to leap out of his chest.

"I wanna do something crazy," he tells Younghoon.

Younghoon just blinks at him. "Crazier than pretending to be a stranger's boyfriend in front of his psychopath of an ex?"

"Maybe. I don't know. You're not a stranger anymore, anyway."

And he isn't, is he? Youngjae has spent the last month asking his opinion, listening to his stories. He knows about his quirks, his annoying habits, his vices. He doesn't understand why Younghoon spends so much money on Pokémon cards, but he likes to watch him unboxing new purchases if only to see the goofy smiles. He doesn't know shit about anime, but he's happy to doze off on his shoulder after Younghoon explains two seasons worth of plot in minute detail. He's promised to teach Younghoon everything about the KBO league standings, and he intends to keep that promise.

He hopes Younghoon will let him, after he does this.

Cradling Younghoon's face with both hands, Youngjae pulls him down into a kiss. It's the wildest thing he's done in a while, kissing a guy (a guy!!!) in broad daylight and letting his heart loose inside his chest—ready to jump into Younghoon's hands if he'll take it.

Luckily for him, Younghoon reciprocates the kiss. What's more, he pulls Youngjae closer, whining into his lips, not so silently asking for more. It's nothing scandalous, but still passionate, because Youngjae couldn't, wouldn't go for any less than that.

When they part, Younghoon's lips look the cutest shade of pink.

"I was starting to think you wouldn't do anything," Younghoon says.

The teasing almost flies over Youngjae's head with how overcome with emotion he is, but he eventually laughs, slapping Younghoon's shoulder playfully.

"Why should I do something?! I thought there were no rules?"

"There aren't," Younghoon says, pulling back enough so he can rearrange their positions and he can wrap his arms around Youngjae's shoulders. "But the ball was in your court, you already knew I was into you."

Youngjae gapes. "I did not!"

"Of course you did, you heard me clearly call you hot. Twice. To your face!"

"Yeah, but that—I mean, I didn't know—Hyung!"

With the way Younghoon is laughing, Youngjae doesn't think arguing will lead him anywhere here. He lets himself melt into the feeling of having Younghoon's arms around him, his own hands finding Younghoon's waist underneath his jacket.

"As romantic as it is to kiss in the snow," he says, trying to recover from what he hopes is only the first of many, many, many kisses, "aren't you gonna ask me to go up with you, hyung? It is Christmas Eve, you know."

"One condition."

Oh. Youngjae swallows, suddenly a little scared that Younghoon seems serious about it.

"Yeah, sure. What is it?"

Younghoon grins, his entire face lighting up with it. "You gotta call me 'baby' one more time."

God, and to think Youngjae really was about to let him just leave his life. Just like that. Like an idiot.

"Anything for you, baby," he says, making it as toe-curlingly cheesy as he can, only to have Younghoon laugh and pull him towards the building with him.